Hawaii visitor spending up in October: Reaches $1.3 billion

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Hawaii visitor spending up in October: Reaches $1.3 billion

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Visitors to the Hawaiian Islands spent a total of $1.3 billion in October 2017, an increase of 4.4 percent compared to a year ago, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA).

“The impact of strengthening air access is reflected in the results for the island of Hawaii, which shows the value of Japan Airlines re-launching daily service between Tokyo and Kona in mid-September. Seeing the island’s visitor spending increase by 15.3 percent and arrivals grow by 12.3 percent in October are phenomenal results for a month that is an off-peak period for travel to Hawaii,” said George D. Szigeti, president and CEO of HTA.

Total visitor arrivals rose 2.8 percent to 736,974 visitors in October, with growth in arrivals from air service (+3.6% to 718,258) offsetting fewer arrivals by cruise ships (-21.3% to 18,716).

The U.S. East market reported the largest gain in visitor spending (+13% to $290.7 million) in October year-over-year, boosted by growth in visitor arrivals (+7.9% 137,695) and higher daily spending (+6.2% to $217 per person).

Spending by U.S. West visitors rose (+3.7% to $466.1 million) in October. Visitor arrivals were up (+3.3% to 295,273) and daily spending (+1.2% to $174 per person) also increased from last year.

The Japan market continued to realize growth in visitor spending (+1.4% to $190.9 million) in October. Increases in visitor arrivals (+3.6% to 137,333) and the average length of stay (+2.4% to 5.75 days) offset lower daily spending (-4.4% to $242 per person) compared to October 2016.

The Canada market saw decreased visitor spending (-1.4% to $57 million) in October. Visitor arrivals increased (+8.4% to 29,496) but daily spending declined (-8.5% to $160 per person) compared to October 2016.

Combined visitor spending from All Other International markets increased in October (+1.5% to $288.6 million) year-over-year.

All four larger Hawaiian Islands saw growth in visitor spending and arrivals in October compared to last year.

Total air seats serving Hawaii rose (+3.3% to 962,692) in October year-over-year. Growth in scheduled air seats from Japan (+6.8%), U.S. West (+4.4%) and Canada (+4.2%) offset fewer seats from Oceania (-8.1%) and U.S. East (-3.7%).

Year-to-Date 2017

Through the first ten months of 2017 visitor spending exceeded results from the same period last year (+6.8% to $13.86 billion), bolstered by growth in visitor arrivals (+4.7% to 7,754,242) and daily spending (+2.2% to $200 per person).

Visitor spending increased from U.S. West (+9.9% to $5.07 billion), U.S. East (+10.6% to $3.56 billion), Japan (+9.9% to $1.87 billion) and Canada (+9% to $805.7 million) but declined from All Other International markets (-5.7% to $2.53 billion) compared to the first ten months of 2016.

Year-to-date, visitor arrivals increased from U.S. West (+4.3%), U.S. East (+5.9%), Japan (+6.4%) and Canada (+9.5%), but showed no growth from All Other International markets (-0.2%).

Other Highlights:

• U.S. West: Visitor arrivals increased from the Pacific (+3.7%) and Mountain (+1.2%) regions in October compared to a year ago, boosted by more visitors from Oregon (+8%), Washington (+7.8%), Colorado (+5.9%) and California (+2.2%). Year-to-date through October 2017, arrivals rose from both the Pacific (+3.6%) and Mountain (+5.7%) regions versus 2016.

• U.S. East: Visitor arrivals increased from all regions in October, led by growth from the West North Central (+12.6%), East North Central (+11.4%) and South Atlantic (+9.4%) regions. Year-to-date, arrivals were up from all regions compared to the first ten months of 2016.

• Japan: While there was marginal growth (+0.9%) in hotel stays, considerably more visitors (+33.3%) stayed in condominium properties compared to October 2016. This was the seventh consecutive month of double-digit growth for condominium stays.

• Canada: Significantly more visitors stayed in rental homes (+39.9%) and timeshares (+25.9%) in October, while there was moderate growth (+3.3%) in hotel usage compared to October 2016.

• MCI: A total of 40,005 visitors came for meetings, conventions and incentives (MCI) in October, a decrease of 21.6 percent from last October. Fewer visitors came for conventions (-17.6% to 20,943) and traveled on incentives (-35.2% to 13,065). Year-to-date through October 2017, the number of MCI visitors declined (-3.1% to 414,714) compared to the same period last year.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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